Healing
by Ronabelles
Summary: Sakura is suffering from PTSD and it's up to Sasuke to help her overcome it (SasuxSaku)
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hello! I'm back, like after a few years. Work seemed to be steady so I have some extra time reading and writing Naruto fanfics again. Yey! Not sure if I still have some followers after being dormant. But here you go! A new story that hopefully, I finish. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

 **XxX**

It was finally over. The madness was finally over. It has been a couple of months after the Fourth Shinobi War concluded. Konoha has started building up their home village again. Slowly, people are healing and moving on from the war.

A trial was done regarding reinstating Sasuke as a Konoha shinobi. The trial lasted for several hours and the truth behind the Uchiha massacre has been revealed. Sasuke was pardoned. The elders who helped with the plot were removed from the council. After which, Tsunade has stepped down from being the Hokage and passed it on to Kakashi, with Naruto whining and disagreeing in the background. During Kakashi's inauguration as Hokage, he informed the village of the story behind the Uchiha massacre, with hopes of being better citizens. A new memorial stone has also been created for those who died heroically during the war; Itachi's name included.

Everyone seemed to be moving on with their lives, bringing it back to how it used to be… except Sakura. Yes, she attended the trial and was happy with the result. Yes, she attended the inauguration of the Hokage and was happy for her former sensei. Yet, she feels empty, uncomfortable and frightened inside. The war has put a toll on her. Every night, she awakes sweaty, eyes wide, occasionally followed by an acid reflux. If it's not the war, she dreams of the times Sasuke tried to kill her. Every time she wakes up, she feels as if the scenes in her nightmares just happened a few minutes or hours before. Every scene feels real and raw. Because of these episodes, the bags under Sakura's eyes has become darker and she has slightly become thinner.

Sakura hated it. She thought herself weak and absolutely hated it. Sakura decided to visit Tsunade one day. Tsunade has been like a mother figure to Sakura and she felt very comfortable in telling her everything. She knocked before opening the door to Tsunade's office in the hospital. She saw Tsunade slumped down on her desk, asleep. Sakura smile. Some things never changed. As she approached the older woman, Tsunade budged and sat up.

"Really Tsunade-sama. Drinking in the hospital?" Sakura scolded, but she was smiling.

"Give me a break, Sakura. No one is getting hurt, at least nothing major. I gotta have my sake" Tsunade replied. Sakura shook her head but kept her smile.

"So, what brings you here?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura told Tsunade everything that she's been feeling after the war. Tsunade rested her chin on the back of her hands while Sakura told her story, contemplating.

"That's normal, Sakura. Everyone goes through some sort of trauma after experiencing something distressing. We've just been to war. I'm sure that you're not the only one who has been feeling that way. It's not going away but you'll learn to live with it. You're a strong girl, Sakura." Tsunade advised.

Sakura nodded. She thanked her shishou and left her office. Hopefully her shishou is right. Hopefully she feels better in time. Sakura sighed.

 **XxX**

 **A/N:** Pretty short for the first chapter. I just wanted to put in some background as to what Sakura's feeling. Sort of prologue. I promise longer chapters. I just had to get this out of my head.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Yey for an update! I'm really having a hard time writing again. Finding it hard to transition and for everything to correlate. So please bear with me.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

 **xXx**

Chapter 2:

Ever since the war ended, Sakura busied herself in the hospital. The first few weeks had been gruesome. With so many shinobis and civilians to treat, Sakura had to do double shifts and more often than not, goes home depleted of chakra. She doesn't complain though. Healing people and managing to get them out of death's claws is very fulfilling for her. At last, she has something to brag about. She may not match Naruto's or Sasuke's physical strength, but she knows she has a strength of her own. Giving people a chance to live again is something that she's very proud of.

But even if the number of casualties has lessened, Sakura still signs up for double shifts in the hospital. Sasuke has been helping in town and she doesn't want to bump into him anytime soon. Everything was going as she wanted but one Tuesday morning, Tsunade came stomping in her office. She barged in her door and asked in an annoyed tone.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Sakura feigned innocence as she replied, "I'm just finishing the records of those shinobi that came out of the emergency room."

Tsunade rolled her honey colored eyes, then pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I want you out of my hospital in 5 minutes. You are not killing yourself working double shifts, 6 times a week! I'm going to be retiring soon and I don't want to hand this hospital if you're in no shape to run it." Tsunade said

"But— "Sakura tried to reason out but Tsunade cut her off.

"No buts! Go home! Take the rest of the week as additional days off. I'll be changing your schedule to 8 hours, 5 days a week. Go hang out with your team, drink with your friends, whatever, I don't care." Tsunade said as she pushed Sakura out of her office. Sakura made an attempt to snatch some files but Tsunade slapped her hand.

"No working at home as well! You're missing half of your life by working all day here in the hospital. We appreciate your hard work but there are a lot of capable medics who can take care of the patients. Hell, there aren't a lot of major accidents and sickness these days. Go home!" Tsunade scolded, then slammed the door in Sakura's face as soon as she was outside of the office.

Sakura looked at the door and sighed. She didn't want to hang out with the team. That was the very reason she worked her ass off in the hospital. She didn't want to go training with the team. She didn't want to eat ramen with the team. Well, if Naruto invited her to Ichiraku's, just the two of them, then she may agree. She just didn't want to be with Sasuke in the meantime.

Sakura walked out of the hospital and trudged home. She was making her final turn when she bumped into someone. She looked up and saw the man that she was avoiding. As soon as he looked at her, she averted her eyes to the ground. Thankfully, he wasn't alone. With him were Naruto and Kakashi.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed and crushed Sakura in a bear hug, then took a good look at her. "You look like hell Sakura-chan."

Sakura punched Naruto's arm.

"Ow! I'm just kidding. We haven't seen you since forever and we miss you! Right, Sasuke?"

Sakura didn't spare a glance at Sasuke but she heard his infamous grunt.

"If you're not busy anymore, we're training every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Well, sometimes it's just Naruto and Sasuke if I can't sneak out of Hokage duties. Yamato and Sai occasionally joins us too." Kakashi invited.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I still got a lot of work at the hospital. I'll see you!" Sakura lied, then ran towards her apartment.

As soon as she's inside, she leaned against the door and grasped her chest. There was an ache in her chest and her hands were slightly trembling. Her breaths were ragged. She faltered to the floor and closed her eyes. She still can't face Sasuke without fear.

 **xXx**

"Can't you handle this, Sakura? Still weak as ever. Still the annoying, useless, sorry excuse of a kunoichi."

Sakura hears Sasuke mock her as she looked at Karin. Sakura stared at her fading life, thinking whether to kill her or not. She suddenly heard the chirping of a thousand birds. Sakura's eyes widened. She didn't have enough time to evade Sasuke's chidori. Everything happened in slow motion. She saw as Sasuke thrusted his chidori through her chest. Sakura spat blood. She sees nothing but red.

Sakura bolted up, trembling. She clutched her chest, heart beating erratically. She wiped the tears that were freely flowing from her eyes. She glanced at her clock; 4 in the morning. She went to her bathroom and washed her face. Sakura looked at the mirror. Naruto was right. She looked like hell. Her pastel hair is dry and lacked its shine. Bags under her eyes are darker and more obvious. Her cheekbones are more prominent. Sakura splashed water towards the mirror. She went back to her bed and covered her whole body with the blanket. She tried to sleep but every time she closes her eyes, she hears crackles of electricity and then everything is red. Sakura sat back up and hugged her knees.

As she was about to fall asleep, she heard the main door open. She grabbed her kunai and stepped out of her room. She saw shadows in her hallway and as soon as one made its way towards her, she threw her kunai.

"Well, good morning to you too, Ugly." Sai greeted with a fake smile on his face.

"Sai? What are you doing here so early in the morning?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I'm here, too! And it's already 6:30 in the morning, Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

Sakura looked at the clock. It is indeed half past six. The curtains in her room were dark colored, and didn't notice that the sun has already risen.

"Tsunade baa-chan said that you're taking a break from the hospital, so let's train!" Naruto said with so much enthusiasm. "Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke are also going to be there so, it will be a Team Seven reunion!"

Sakura frowned. She looked at Naruto who's making the puppy dog eyes. Sakura sighed.

"Alright. I'll get ready. What training ground?" Sakura asked.

Naruto jumped for joy, then told her that they'll be at Training Ground 3. Sai and Naruto left after.

 **xXx**

"I don't think Ugly will be here." Sai said.

It had been an hour since they invited Sakura to train with them. Suddenly, they hear a loud poof.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted.

"Man! Sakura-chan's even later than Kakashi-sensei." Naruto whined.

"Should've we start?" Sai asked.

"Let's wait a bit." Sasuke said, causing the others to look at him.

It was very unlike Sakura to be late in trainings. Heck, it was very unlike Sakura to not show up in any of their activities. Sasuke understood how hectic it is working in a hospital but not once did she drop by to at least say hi. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. He hasn't see Sakura after the war until recently, when she bumped into him. He was surprised at how Sakura looked like. Sakura has a slender frame but when he saw her that day, it seemed as she lost a lot of weight, and that worried him. What has she been up to? Why doesn't she meet up with them anymore? Why didn't she give him her sweet smile when she bumped into him? Sasuke thought of the last time she'd seen her smile. It definitely wasn't during the Fourth Shinobi war. Sasuke frowned. He'd brought nothing but pain and sadness to her. His train of thoughts was interrupted by Naruto's loud mouth.

"I knew you'd come!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura stood there, pale as ever with a halfhearted smile. She'd been stalling in her apartment, thinking whether to go or not. In the end, she decided to go as she couldn't bear thinking of how Naruto will be disappointed at her. Sakura stole a quick glance at Sasuke. Quiet and sulking, as usual.

After stretching, Kakashi decided to have them practice their taijutsu. He had them draw a piece of paper. Whoever has the same symbol on it will be partners. They opened their piece of paper and Sakura inwardly cursed. She's partners with Sasuke. Naruto let out a breath of relief.

"Good thing I'm not partnered with Sakura-chan. I won't have to face chakra-infused punches." Naruto said.

Sakura pouted and playfully punched his arm.

"No chakra to be used." Kakashi told them with an eye crinkle.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Kakashi had Naruto and Sai go first. Sasuke stayed under the tree opposite of Kakashi's. Sakura approached him.

"Ano, sensei. I don't think I can do this." Sakura whispered.

Kakashi looked at Sakura. Her eyes looked teary. He noticed a slight tremble of her hands, which she hid by placing her hands at her back.

"It's just sparring Sakura. There will be no chakra involved. You don't have to worry." Kakashi assured with an eye crinkle.

Sakura inhaled deeply and watched Naruto and Sai spar. 20 minutes in, a cut lip, a black eye, an ankle sprain and maybe a broken rib, Kakashi ended the fight. While Naruto and Sai bickered, Sakura healed them. She made it as slow as possible to stall her sparring with Sasuke.

"I'm fine, Sakura-chan. No need to heal everything. Kurama will do that in a few minutes." Naruto told her.

Sakura nodded. She took a deep breath and walked towards the clearing.

 _I can do this. I can do this. Fuck, I can't do this._

Sakura positioned a few feet away from Sasuke. Sakura inhaled and unconsciously held her breath. Kakashi signaled for them to start. Sakura didn't bother changing her stance. Sasuke started with the offense. Sakura saw him jump towards her and suddenly, a scene flashed in her mind.

 _"You're such an annoyance." Sasuke said with a smirk, then thrusted his hand towards her chest, putting her in an eternal genjutsu._

Sasuke stopped even before he hit Sakura. Sakura stumbled to the ground, tears in her eyes and hands on her head. Sasuke was surprised. He tried to approach her.

"Stop!" Sakura cried.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. Sakura's whole body shook. Naruto and the others ran towards her.

"Just… I need to be alone." Sakura said and vanished in a flurry of cherry blossom petals.

 **xXx**

 **End of Chapter**

 **A/N:** Soooo, how was it? Sorry for any grammar mistakes or misspelled words. I proof read it thrice but I still may have missed some. Tell me what you think through your reviews.


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